Night out ends in high speed chase and court

A DRINK driver led police on a high speed chase through a Doncaster housing estate, a court heard.

Jack David Cooley was going to leave his mother’s car in town when he went for a night out but instead chose to drive home to Hereford Road, Wheatley, in the early hours.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving while over the legal alcohol limit.

He was first spotted by a police patrol car overtaking another vehicle in Queen’s Road in a 30mph limit area so the officers put their blue lights and pursued him, said Carl Fitch, prosecuting, at Doncaster Crown Court.

Cooley reached speeds of 60mph in Harrowden Road, turned into Beckett Road by cutting a corner and was still driving at 50mph in Beverley Road before police lost sight of him in Parkway North.

Other officers were alerted to look for the car and it was discovered abandoned in an alleyway off Guildford Road, where a check of the registration showed it belonged to his parents.

Cooley, of Hereford Road, Wheatley, was arrested later that night at a service station in a friend’s car.

He still had the keys to his mother’s car.

“It was evident he had been drinking and a breath test showed he was almost twice the legal alcohol limit. He said he failed to stop because he’d been drinking,” said Mr Fitch.

Cedric Hennis, mitgating, said it was a very short course of driving in a contained area at 3am and no other vehicles or pedestrians were around.

“The pursuit was relatively brief and when arrested he had the good grace not to prevaricate and apologise. His thinking skills were clearly impaired when he decided not to leave the car in town.”

Cooley was given nine months in custody, suspended for two years, and was told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work for the community.

He was also banned from driving for 18 months and will have to take an extended re-test.